Four people were gunned down, one fatally, on Thursday in California as fans celebrated the life of rapper Nipsey Hussle following his shooting death at 33 last month.
The victims aged between 30 and 50 were three black males and a woman who was also black, LAPD stated as they said about the South LA incident around 103rd and Main streets: ‘We must stop this senseless violence.’
Cops said the suspects were in a gray Hyundai as a procession moved through the South LA area around 6.25pm on the day of his memorial event at Downtown LA’s Staples Center.
The incident occurred about a 15 minute drive away from late music star’s Marathon clothing store where he was killed in March.
Nipsey Hussle’s procession passes his Marathon Clothing store after his memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles
People stand on top and pose with graffiti sprayed on an LAPD cruiser parked on Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles while a memorial procession for the Nipsey Hussle passes by The Marathon Clothing store on Thursday
People run away from a stampede as LAPD officers reopen a path for the funeral procession after fans filled the intersection while waiting for the procession, following a memorial for rapper Nipsey Hussle, near the intersection of Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles
Shooting Thursday was after tens of thousands had left the Watts neighborhood where they moved in remembrance of the man whose real name was Ermias Joseph Asghedom (pictured in 2018)
Video provided by ABC7 shows thousands of people around the memorial and shrine where rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot
Staples Center is a mere 10-minute car journey from the Thursday shootings.
There’s no indication the incident was connected to Nipsey Hussle’s procession but LAPD Chief Moore said it occurred ‘in the midst of this procession’.
LA Times reported it was after tens of thousands had left the Watts neighborhood where they moved in remembrance of the man whose real name was Ermias Joseph Asghedom.
After the memorial, a hearse with Hussle’s body slowly snaked along a 25-mile route through the city. The car was draped in multicolored flowers and followed by a parade of police motorcycles and private citizens on bikes and ATVs, some of them doing wheelies.
A hearse carrying the casket draped in the flag of his father’s native country, Eritrea in East Africa, passes through the crowd
A hearse carrying the casket of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle passes through the crowd
Fans gather as the hearse carrying Hussle’s body arrives at Angelus Funeral Home after Nipsey Hussle’s Celebration of Life
A hearse carrying the casket of Nipsey Hussle passes through a large crowd on its 25-mile trek through the streets of the city
A huge crowd thronged the streets and sidewalks at Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard where the procession paused at The Marathon, Hussle’s clothing store that he had hoped would become a community hub. He was gunned down as he stood outside the store March 31.
‘Nip put his heart and his soul on Crenshaw and Slauson,’ Hussle’s brother Samiel Asghedom said during the memorial. ‘He stayed and he died on Crenshaw and Slauson.’
Onlookers got inventive in their efforts to get a look, or a smartphone shot, of the hearse carrying Hussle’s body, with some climbing traffic lights or heading to rooftops to get a better view.
At least a dozen people were seen standing atop an empty Los Angeles police car with ‘NIPS IN PARADISE’ spray-painted on its side.
At one point people ran away from a stampede as LAPD officers reopened a path for the funeral procession after fans filled the intersection while waiting for it to arrive.
A woman was pictured on the floor after a barrier fell.
People flee the scene after hearing a loud noise while waiting for a hearse. A woman is pictured on the floor after a barrier fell
Two men carry a woman injured in a stampede as people gather to watch a hearse carrying the casket of slain rapper
Fans and community members scramble after momentary chaos along the procession route for Nipsey Hussle
People run away from a stampede as LAPD officers reopen a path for the funeral procession after fans filled the intersection
A man confronts LAPD officers after fans filled the streets while waiting for the funeral procession for rapper Nipsey Hussle
A man confronts LAPD officers after fans filled the streets while waiting for the funeral procession for rapper Nipsey Hussle
People climb on a police vehicle to watch a hearse carrying Nipsey Hussle through South LA
Fans and community members gather along the procession route for Nipsey Hussle after his memorial at the Staples Center
Some Hussle fans traveled hundreds of miles to be at the memorial.
Hundreds who could not get tickets stood outside, there just to be part of the scene, where activists with microphones shouted about the systemic problems Hussle’s death represents and others just danced to his music as it blasted out of their phone.
Several news helicopters hovered over the arena to capture the scene, where for several blocks in every direction, vendors sold T-shirts and bandanas made for the occasion.
Los Angeles police officers stand guard as people wait for a hearse carrying the casket of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle to pass
People wait for the funeral procession for hip hop artist Nipsey Hussle outside his store on April 11, 2019 in Los Angeles
A hearse carrying the body of Nipsey Hussle passes Century and Vermont during Nipsey Hussle’s procession
Nipsey Hussle arrives in his casket at a funeral home on Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California